Huayang Cured Meat

Huayang Cured Meat

　　Huayang cured meat is a specialty from Huayang Town, Yang County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province. The cured meat, after smoking, is uniformly colored throughout. When cooked and sliced, it is transparent and shiny, with vibrant colors—yellow tinged with red. It has a rich and mellow flavor, with the fat being not greasy and the lean not tough. Not only does it have a unique taste and rich nutrition, but it also aids digestion, warms the body, and helps to whet the appetite.

　　Cured meat, also known as smoked meat, is a local specialty of the Qinba Mountain area in southern Shaanxi. It is a traditional gift and delicacy for hosting guests in the region and is said to have a history of several thousand years. According to records, over two thousand years ago, when Zhang Lu, who declared himself King of Han, was defeated and retreated southward to southern Shaanxi, the people of Hanzhong served him premium cured meat when he passed through Hongmiaotang in Hanzhong. Another legend says that in the 26th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu took refuge in Xi'an. Local officials from southern Shaanxi presented cured meat as an imperial offering. After tasting it, Cixi praised it immensely.

　　In the mountainous areas around Huayang at the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains in Yang County, the tradition of processing and making cured meat is not only long-standing but also widespread. During the winter and lunar December, from "Minor Snow" to just before "Lichun" (the Beginning of Spring), every household slaughters pigs and sheep. Aside from keeping enough fresh meat for the New Year, the rest is preserved using salt along with a certain proportion of spices such as Sichuan peppercorn, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and bay leaves, which are pickled in jars. After seven to fifteen days, the meat is hung up with palm leaf ropes to drip dry before further processing. It is then slowly smoked using cypress branches, sugarcane peel, Chinese toon bark, or firewood, and hung up to be dried gradually by smoke. Sometimes it is hung above the kitchen stove where firewood is burned, or suspended above the heating stove, allowing the smoke to slowly cure it. The Qinba Mountain area is rich in forests and grass, and almost every household burns firewood for cooking or heating, creating ideal conditions for curing meat. Even urban residents, though they don’t slaughter their own animals, will often go to the market during winter months to select high-quality cuts of pork—either fatty or lean—and bring them home to pickle and smoke in the same traditional way, enjoying the smoky flavor. Those who do not use firewood at home often ask relatives in the countryside to smoke a few pieces for them.

　　Southern Shaanxi cured meat retains excellent color, aroma, taste, and texture, earning the praise of “one household cooking meat, a hundred households enjoying the fragrance.” From the processing of fresh meat to curing and storage, the meat maintains its flavor and remains fragrant for a long time, with the added benefit of a long shelf life without spoiling. Because it is smoked with cypress branches, flies and mosquitoes do not approach it even in summer, and it remains unspoiled even through the hottest months, making it a uniquely flavored local delicacy.

　　The pigs and sheep slaughtered during the New Year in Huayang are all for household consumption. They are preserved in abundance during plentiful times for enjoyment year-round. Whether as a side dish, paired with alcohol, served to guests, given as gifts, or enjoyed during festivals, cured meat is always essential. As a result, most farming families consider it a staple homestyle delicacy, turning it into a beloved local flavor. Especially in remote mountain villages, the amount of cured meat stored is often seen as a symbol of wealth.